


Always With Me

by writtenthroughtime



Series: WTT's Posts for ImagineClaireandJamie [1]
Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 12:20:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6284305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtenthroughtime/pseuds/writtenthroughtime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>anonymous asked:<br/>imagine Jamie going all proud poppa mode with baby Faith if she had lived</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always With Me

Slender hands held the tiny bundle, wiping the tender new skin softly with a cloth. Brown curls washed over tiny ears and still unopened eyes, while the delicate nose of the foal peaked through the cloth still in the deft hands of his caregiver. 

Tears pricked my eyes and I couldn’t mask the pride on my face. Faith had grown to be the spit of her mother in more than one way: her likeness, her adventurous sparkle, and her uncanny ability to heal those around her; My eldest daughter, strong, capable and completely independent.

“Tha’s a strong one, tha’ is,” Rabbie McNab said from behind Faith. Her head quirked to the side as a smile split her face. 

“Aye, she’s a bonnie one. Mam will love having another girl about.” She winked at Rabbie and the lad’s face flushed crimson within moments. 

A Dhia, I thought, please dinna let this lad fancy my wee Faith just yet, she’s only sixteen.

“Da,” Faith called.

“Aye, mo chridhe?” I responded, stroking the new mother’s sweaty mane. 

“I think we need to keep Donas locked away for a while, I dinna know how much more Buttercup can take.” Faith frowned, brows wrinkled in concentration.

I let out a laugh as Donas snorted and stamped in his stall across from us. 

“I believe ye may be right. Though I dinna ken how ye plan on tellin’ him he canna be wi’ his lady. I ken if it were yer Mam, I’d move heaven and earth to be by her side.” 

Faith rolled her eyes, “It’s simple. You just have to make sure he doesna come near her! Unless ye want me to make it to where she canna have any more foals? Mam, mentioned something of a procedure she knew for humans that I may be able to perform on a horse,” her forehead scrunched and a frown etched on her face. “Though I dinna ken how I’m to do it without using laudanum.” 

“Ah, dinna fash yerself lass, we’ll figure it out one way or ano—”

“Mistress Faith! Come quick!” the kitchen lass called out. The poor lassie’s hair was starting to fall from it’s stays and her over skirt was soaked in blood. 

“Good heavens, Magaidh!” Faith said, eyes wide. “How have you come to be soaked in blood? Do ye need Mam instead of me? Ye ken she’s better wi—”

Magaidh shook her head violently, “Nay Mistress, tis ye I’m in need of—yer Mam is the one who sent me to fetch ye! The dogs, a Dhia, it’s the hunting dogs that are in need of ye.”

At this, gently laid Buttercup’s head on the tattered shirts and bits of straw, stood, and gripped the lassie’s arms. “Are Fergus and Young Jamie back then?”

“Aye, my Laird! They arrived back just a quarter hours past. They’re in decent spirits, more concerned for Bram and Paul.” Magaidh turned her head from my gaze to look down at Faith, who still held the newborn foal. “Bram is in the worst state, Mistress. Please make haste to tend to them!”

Faith nodded and laid the foal next to her mother. “Aye, to the kitchens then?”

“Oh! No, Mistress, they be in the dooryard! The beasts are thrust up in the straw wagon.” The maid pulled herself from my grasp and took off like a shot to the dooryard, Faith closely on her heels, wee medicine box in hand. 

At the wagon, Faith jumped into it, pulled at her skirts, and created long bandage-like strips that she used to tie off just above the torn flank of the dog. 

“Da!” Faith cried, never looking up from her charge.

“Aye, mo chridhe, what is it ye need?” I asked from below, ready to retrieve whatever thing she might need.

“I need hot water, more clean bandages, Aunt Jenny’s best needle and sturdy thread, and Mam. I canna do this without Mam.” The last part she muttered out in almost a whisper to herself. 

I placed my hand on her back, “Ye can do this on yer own Faith, I know ye can. But I’ll fetch yer Mam to help and get what ye need.” 

I tore through the house fetching her wee supplies and her mother—who was tending to a scratch on Fergus’s arm—as fast as I could manage. Outside the flurry of activity only increased as inquisitive wee eyes and fumbling bodies following orders, circled the wagon. Faith was doing well, a calm and collected stance, a firm and clear voice barking out orders, and her hands never once stopping their ministrations. 

Her hands were swiftly prodding to find the worst of the injuries all the while being gentle and soothing to the beast. When Claire joined her, the two were unstoppable force to be reckoned with. Both shouting orders, while clinically speaking to each other: cutting, cleaning, sewing, and providing assistance where necessary. In, what felt like seconds, my two brown haired lasses hopped down from the wagon, soaked in blood and sweat with identical smiles. 

“Bram will be fine, he wilna be hunting any longer, but he will live.” Faith proclaimed as she set her hands on her hips, head tilted to the sky. A light breeze blew her dark curls across her face. 

Claire sidled up next to me and rested her head against my arm. “She did well, my love.”

“Aye, mo nighean donn.” I said, kissing the top of her wayward curl covered head. “She’s incredible. I couldna have asked for a better daughter, or been more proud to call Faith my own. She’s just like ye, Sorcha.”

“No, she’s better.” Claire whispered and then laughed “Faith Julia Fraser, the first female Highlander Veterinarian.” 

“Do ye think the tenants will seek her out after they hear of today’s events?” I whispered.

“They already do.” She assured me.

“Aye, I just dinna want to lose her. Not yet, anyway.” I wrapped an arm around my wife and pulled her even closer to my side. 

“You won’t, we won’t. You can never truly lose a child.”

“Mam! Da!” Faith’s voice called out and gradually became fainter. 

“Jamie?” Claire placed a hand on my shoulder, then situated herself to face me. Her hand gradually, gently made its way to my face. “Wake up, Jamie, wake up. You’re crying in your sleep, love. What’s caused this?”

My shoulders shook and I couldn’t bear to look into Claire’s eyes or gaze upon her dark curls, my heart ached with what could have been. 

“I saw her. I saw Faith, and she was,” I shuddered out a breath, laying my forehead on Claire’s. “She was amazing. Just like you in her mannerisms, abilities—though she preferred to tend the beasts than people—and looks, all but the eyes, she had my eyes. A Dhia, Sassenach, I wish ye could have seen her.”

Claire kissed my chin and settled herself under it, nuzzling my neck. 

“Tell me all about her.” She whispered. “I want to know everything about our daughter.”


End file.
